Madrid: Xavi Hernandez celebrated his record-setting appearance by scoring Barcelona's only goal in a 1-0 victory at Granada on Tuesday that put them provisionally top of the Spanish standings.
Xavi, who surpassed Migueli with his club record 392nd league appearance, curled a free kick from outside the area over the defensive wall into the top left corner for the 33rd-minute winner.
Granada had little possession inside Barcelona's half and were further limited after Jaime Romero was sent off in the 53rd. Barcelona lost forward Pedro Rodriguez to injury shortly after.
Granada striker Dani Benitez was also sent off in added time for protesting.
Barcelona lead with 21 points, one better than Levante and two over Real Madrid, who play Villarreal on Wednesday. Surprise package Levante can reclaim top spot with a seventh straight victory when they face Real Sociedad.
Also on Tuesday, Manu del Moral extended Sevilla's best start in 67 years by heading home an injury-time equalizer to salvage a 2-2 draw against Racing Santander.
Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola gave youth team player Isaac Cuenca his first start on the left wing, leaving David Villa and Andres Iniesta on the bench, while Carles Puyol was rested and left out of the squad.
Granada were keen to counter-attack and often sent testing long balls toward Barcelona defender Javier Mascherano, but the Argentine - who is normally a midfielder - comfortably dealt with those inconveniences.
Lionel Messi, looking to rediscover his scoring touch after having an injury-time penalty saved in a 0-0 draw against Sevilla on Saturday, displayed some slick dribbling in the 13th but sent a left-footed shot wide of the far post.
The 20-year-old Cuenca had a go from a similar position soon after but also curled it wide.
Pedro headed a clear chance wide in the 22nd while goalkeeper Roberto Fernandez was well-placed to save Eric Abidal's effort a few minutes. Barcelona's overwhelming hold on the ball then finally resulted in Xavi's fourth league goal of the season.
"We didn't circulate the ball quick enough," Guardiola said. "We were slower than usual but we still did well to control the game."
"Granada did great work tonight. We didn't reach the level we should be at, while they did."
Jaime was shown a second yellow card for kicking Maxwell in the face in a bid to reach the ball, right before Pedro came off with a left leg injury after twisting awkwardly. Villa replaced his fellow Spain international and set up Messi just before the hour mark, but defender Diego Mainz cleared the Argentina forward's chip off the line.
Roberto denied Cuenca a goal on his debut in the 70th and Granada finally looked to have their first shot on goal six minutes later when substitute Alexandre Gaijo was played through on Victor Valdes, but a questionable offside flag was raised.
Benitez was shown a second yellow following another contentious offside call as Granada failed to lodge a shot on Valdes' goal.
Barcelona remain unbeaten after 15 games in all competitions this season. Granada's winless run stretched to six games and kept them 18th.
Sevilla, who last started this well during their league-winning campaign of 1944-45, frequently exposed Santander's defence on set plays, including when Del Moral met Jose Angel Campana's free kick untouched for a 37th-minute opener.
Santander goalkeeper Antonio Rodriguez made good saves from Emir Spahic and Del Moral to keep the visitors in the match and Papakouly Diop started a perfectly executed counter-attack in the 64th that ended with Ariel Nahuelpan heading home Adrian Gonzalez's cross for the equalizer.
Diop released Jairo Samperio along the right side five minutes later and the Santander midfielder shot over Sevilla goalkeeper Javi Varas into the roof of the net to atone for an earlier miss from a similar spot.
On the verge of their first win, Santander finally capitulated as Del Moral beat his marker to a ball into the box to head home an equalizer in the 92nd minute that left Sevilla four points behind Barcelona. Santander joined Granada on five points.
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